The Glittering Fields: A powerful saga from the Australian gold mines

by Patricia Shaw

Set against the turbulent excitement of the goldrush, a story of courage, ambition and desire, beautifully repackaged for a new audience.

Following the tragic death of their father, Clem Price and his sister Alice take over the running of Lancoorie sheep station in Western Australia. Despite his youth and inexperience, Clem is determined to see the farm prosper. When wealthy Dr Carty suggests that Clem marry his daughter Thora, Clem cannot afford to refuse the handsome dowry she will bring. And although he knows that Thora is carrying another man's child, he is enchanted by his beautiful young bride. Yet Thora proves to be flighty and demanding, disappointed that her husband is not as wealthy as she had imagined. Desperate to please her, Clem joins the goldrush to Kalgoorlie to seek his fortune. But his prolonged absence enrages Thora further and, despite Alice's warnings, she travels to Perth to find her husband. Her dramatic reunion with Clem is to have shocking consequences from which those involved might never recover...

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Australia

384 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 1997

About the author

Patricia Shaw was an Australian novelist and non-fiction writer.

Reviews

[Cynthia]

This book was set Western Australia around the time gold was discovered at Kalgoorlie. Patricia does not shy away from the harshness of life in the outback and how a single act can affect a person’s life. A good cast of characters that love, strive, betray, abandon, and survive. I enjoyed the descriptions of the landscape and could imagine it and the people trying to life under those conditions. A great Aussie story.

[Tanya Boulter]

This was an amazing insight into the glittering gold fields of outback WA

[Michelle Antone]

Easy light read.

[Nilgün]

Ich fand es wirklich sehr realistisch zu lesen. Die geschichte ist mir richtig in die augen gefallen, ich habe es wirklich in meinem gedanken gelebt. Ein Punkt fileicht waehre besser aufgenommen; Lidya und Carolins begegnung könnte man mehr erzaehlen... Aber Super in den Zeiten zu leben...

[Davida]

Love her books, great Australian stories.